My favorite things

24 hour short hours from now I will embark on my first day of “travel season.” Well, if I am being totally accurate, it will actually be 26 hours from now. Because, it is now only 4 AM. For the 6th time in 7 days, my 2 year-old daughter has once again roused me from that precious thing that the rest of the world is taking for granted right now- sleep! So, as everyone else dreams of fluffy white sheep, I whittle away the hours waiting for the rest of the world to wake up.

Tomorrow will be an early morning as well. When the sun finally decides to make its appearance, I’ll be heading due east on Interstate 80. That’s the tricky thing about traveling in eastern Iowa- I’ll be fighting the glare- trying my best to navigate traffic at 75 MPH while the sun tries to burn my retinas off. The bummer of it, heading west on the way home at night I must do it all over again.

But, I am excited. I cherish those mornings- the world is quiet and peaceful. The air is crisp. It’s just me, my 32 ounces of Diet Dew, and the open road. Sometimes a gravelly-voiced narrator will keep me company as I listen to the latest suspense novel to make it’s way to CD. Then I'll proceed to be paranoid and afraid of my own shadow in every parking lot, but that's a whole other topic.

Given the occasion, I thought it was appropriate to tell you more about my favorite things: people and places from the road.

(Take it away Julie Andrews..."Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things.") oh and yes, if you are lucky, that song will be in your head ALL day!

Two great guidance counselors: Two great guidance counselors that immediately come to mind are Ms. Reisner from North Tama and Mr. Kettman from Marion. These two are in touch with their students and are so friendly. There are other great ones as well, too many to name, but these two are in my travel area and they come right to mind. Even though they meet with tons of admissions counselor, who all look the same, carry the same big black bag, and bring the same glossy publications, they still take the time to ask me how I am doing. Kettman, a former road warrior himself, perhaps remembers what those days are like- when your back aches from driving and you're tired from sleeping in hotels. I also have to give props to the folks in the awesome guidance office at Iowa Falls. Lois, who sits at the front desk, is so sweet. She remembers me every year and even asks to see pictures of my daughter! Lastly, I return to North Tama because they also get the award for having great students! Now, I have met with great students from nearly every town I have been in- nice students, smart students, funny and polite students. But it seems like when I make the trek, twice a year, to that little office on the top floor of that particular high school, the students are always polite, interested and have good questions. Goooooo RedHawks! Maybe it’s just something in the water??? Physically, Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids is the most beautiful school. It’s tucked in a hilly neighborhood with winding streets. It’s very pretty and always clean.

My favorite hotel is the Hampton Inn. The people are friendly, it is clean, and they even give away free chocolate chip cookies. Rock on Hampton! My favorite gas station is Casey’s- gotta love a place where you can get gasoline, magazines and a hot lunch in ANY small town. My favorite restaurant is Charlie’s (not the chain) in Sioux City Iowa. It’s not a very well-known place, but they have one menu item that gives them the distinction of being my favorite- the pretzel bread sandwich. Mmmmmm. But, given that my travels no longer take me that direction, I will say that Subway is a staple in my traveling diet.

My favorite town is probably LeMars, Iowa. It just always feels like a beautiful fall day up there. Plus, hello, it’s the Ice Cream Capital of the World- home of Wells Blue Bunny. (and yes, I did take the official tour when I was there…)

My favorite landmark is the Mississippi River as it curls it’s way through eastern Iowa.

That’s it for now- it’s 4:30 am and I am getting really enthralled in an awesome infomercial!